Help! I need your expertise!
 

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I just completed making many, many of these 9 components according to the directions of a pattern, only to find out the pressing directions are wrong! (Confirmed by others) The four squares are all sewn and pressed the same, as well as the four flying geese strips. The problem is the four squares (1,3,7,9) are each placed in a different direction. Now I need to sew the top three together, middle three, bottom three, and then sew all three rows together to complete the block. Because of the faulty pressing directions, the seams won't nest. if the square on the left of flying geese nests, the right side will not. this is also a problem top to bottom - if square above flying geese nests, the square below will not.
how would you correct this problem? press flying geese seams open, producing three layers of fabric in new seams?
snip seams in square and press them the correct way? another solution?
so many to fix, and appreciate your thoughts!

can you turn your log cabin block the other way? You will still have the dark row of black squares making for pleasing eye movement across the quilt. set up a 4 or 8 block set on your working wall and see if the pattern is improved?

edited to add: welcome to the board from Sharyn in SW Washington state!

Sometimes when I have seams going the same direction, I split one of them (pressing that one open) so there are only 3 layers on one side instead of four. Every little bit helps. Can you do that? Can you press the last sewn seams open?

Btw, I love that block! Your quilt is going to be gorgeous!

KamalaQuilts, thank you for the response, the blocks are identical so the problem remains no matter their position.
JustAbitCrazy I may end up pressing all flying geese open. I’m feeling “Just a bit crazy” myself right now. I could switch last seam sewn as well. Thank you

I have been known to turn the seam in the middle so that the seam is nested. I quilt my own quilts and you can't tell after it is quilted. Of course, mine are not show quilts. They are to be used.

I do as Barb says above when confronted with this situation. I would probably turn those squares seams so they nest with the geese. I don't generally clip them, as they find a place to fold and lie pretty flat. That looks like a wonderful block!

Barb in Louisiana - how do you turn the seam, a small snip then press? I was concerned about the long arm quilter, so good to know you can’t tell the difference.I too make quilts to use!

I too would press the log cabin pieces open. I have started to press all my seams open. they still go together very nicely.

I would just re-press all the geese, so their seams lean towards the center.

Tartan and Stitchnripper - so you would make a small snip in the fabric so it can be pressed the other way? (seams are holding it in place currently)
joe'smom - thanks for the input!

sewbizgirl - the geese nest on one side but not the other, to repress the geese, the opposite side would nest but not the first side. its a conundrum!

If seam is sewn I would rip and just turn whichever side to make them nest and move on. As someone said you can't tell once the quilt is done. I do this quite often.

You could either snip or twist the seams. I've snipped my seams when
needed.It helps if you have a good pair of small pointy scissors and a
good light. Don't want to cut into the seam. :D

This might work. Snip in the light fabric seam near the point of the flying geese when necessary and flip that seam but not the point of the fling geese. You might have a snip on only one side of the geese point in some and on both sides of the point in some. This way the point still goes its natural way and you can turn the light seam the way you need to nest.

Greensleeves- I like it! Seems least labor intensive. Thanks!
EasyPeezy - looking for my little scissors!
Jingle - thanks for the advise!
this forum is awesome!

Just stitch as they present themselves, and then press resulting seams open.Seams need not always nest. Pinning helps.

The problem with pressing geese so that the nose of the goose is pressed down is that on the front, it's hard to get a nice, sharp tip in that nose.

In addition, in this case, it appears that the seams will nest on one side of each goose, but not the other? So even if you change the press direction of the goose, you'll still have only 1/2 of the seams nesting with the log cabins.

The way you feed fabric in when making log cabins impacts how the seams in the back need to be pressed to remain flat. Or at least I think it does. I haven't made a LC in 20 years, so am not positive - but it seems like I remember always having to feed it so that one or the other of the round is on top as it's being sewn. If you've already done all of the units, you aren't going to want to play around with that.

I'd be seeing how flat - or not - they lay and how nicely I could get them all to match as is. If that doesn't work, I'd be twisting the seam on the side of the log cabin that doesn't nest with the geese. That flipped seam would probably not be noticed at all once layered and quilted. Unless it's being judged, I wouldn't worry about it.

Looking forward to seeing the finished quilt, from the back, it's looking fabulous.

stitch678 & peaceandjoy - Thank you for your thoughts!
below is how I finally decided to handle this. On the four flying geese segments, I am snipping a 45 degree cut to the right of the point and ironing one side of geese in opposite direction. Onward and upward. so thankful for this forum and its members willing to offer advise
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Came out perfect!!

thank you :)

Looks like you solved the problem elegantly!

Your block looks perfect and I love that pattern and fabrics you have used.

You have done elegantly, is right. I love this quilt. I love the colors too.

Thank you for sharing. I have had this problem before and it is so annoying! But i have done what you did as well.

Thank you everyone! Again, this is a great group:)

What a swoon-worthy block! Is that the Kim Diehl BOM? I was sorely tempted to join that one.

yes it is, I was able to find it as a kit at craftTownFabrics. Thanks for the compliment!

I would re-press the geese seams.

Happy for you that you found the method acceptable to you for solving your problem. Sometimes we have to consider several options before choosing one that fits our need.

Quilterpurpledog- that’s what is great about this forum! Lots of great minds working on my problem! Lots of ideas